The expanding consumption of energy has created new demands for coal and increasing activity in the coal mining industry. However, the mining of coal is accompanied by coal wastes which are dumped in the form of coal waste embankments. The present concern for safety and the environment requires an analysis of the geotechnical problems associated with the construction of these embankments to assure acceptable engineering design. This paper discusses the properties of the coal wastes and the behaviour of coal waste embankments which differ from the common earth embankments that the geotechnical engineer has to deal with.